Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs

The Red Wings lost, 6-5 in a shootout, to the Lightning, the second time in their last five games where they have scored at least five goals and lost. Only the Capitals (three) have more such losses this season.

Toronto has won five straight and nine of the last 11, outscoring opponents 44-27 in that 11-game span. The Leafs' goal differential on the season is +29, best in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings, 5-3, in Detroit on October 11 and have now won eight of the last nine games in the series. Toronto has not won nine against Detroit in a 10-game span since 1967-68 to 1968-69.

Frans Nielsen recorded his second-career hat trick against Tampa Bay on Tuesday. He is the first Red Wings' skater with a hat trick in a loss since Gustav Nyquist on February 2, 2014. Nielsen had just three goals in his previous 31 games played.

Auston Matthews opened the scoring against Buffalo in the first period while also notching the game-winning goal in overtime. Since 2016-17, Matthews has 42 go-ahead goals, the most in hockey.

The Red Wings kill only 68.6 percent of penalties at home this season, but kill 89.4 percent of penalties on the road. That is the largest difference (20.8 percent) in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs (20-8-0) will be meeting a battered Red Wings team that lost 6-5 in a shootout Tuesday night at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We played a pretty good game, we gave them a hard game," said Gustav Nyquist, who scored twice. "A shootout, we had a 4-on-3 chance (power play) in overtime, and shootouts are a coin flip, it can go either way. We should have finished this one off."

The Red Wings (12-12-4) lost defenseman Danny DeKeyser to a hand injury during the game when he was hit by a shot from the Lightnings Steve Stamkos.

"It's a big loss for sure," Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "He logs a lot of minutes, plays in a lot of defensive situations, plays against teams' top lines every night. It's a big loss for us, for sure."

The Red Wings also have lost Anthony Mantha for up to six weeks to a hand injury suffered in a fight Sunday. He had surgery Tuesday afternoon. Tyler Bertuzzi will be serving the second game of a two-game suspension on Thursday.

Despite the adversity, the Red Wings felt they had a chance to beat the Lightning and had a two-goal lead.

"We passed up some shots," Blashill said. "We had outnumbered rushes where we could have shot the puck, tried to make a play or two."

The Red Wings are 2-1-1 in their past four games.

Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews continued his prolific scoring, even as he continues to find his skating legs, since missing 15 games with a shoulder injury. He had two goals and an assist Tuesday, including the overtime winner.

He has five goals and two assists in three games since returning from the injury.

Matthews said he feels "a little bit" better as he plays more games following his return.

Both Matthews and the team had some trouble getting into gear at the start.

"I think (in) the first period, as a team they had us hemmed in there for the first 12 or 13 minutes and we started to push back," Matthews said. "For myself, that first period, it took me a while to get my legs going. In the second and third I felt a lot better. I know it's not going to come back immediately, but I think game-by-game I start to feel more and more like myself. That second and third definitely felt a lot better."

"If you know him, and I don't want to take anything away, he got two goals tonight, but, obviously his skating and his conditioning are -- there's nothing you can do until you play," said Babcock, a former Red Wings coach. "The more he plays and the more he gets through it, the better he's going to be. That ability to keep pushing when you're in a battle -- it's tough -- the ability to keep your legs going. Any time you've been off, it's going to take you some time. He knows that, but he's a good enough player that he's obviously helping us in the meantime."